Race
This might be a stretch because it stems from a very specific argument or question I’ve come across a number of times on the internet and can be found in a number of online chat forums. bodybuilding.com forum. Was Piccolo the black guy in DBZ. 3 27, 2013. http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=152839741 (accessed 12 8, 2015). Gamefaqs Forum. Game Faqs. 9 10, 2010. http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/996389-dragon-ball-raging-blast-2/56259702 (accessed 12 8, 2015). IGN Forum. IGN. 10 29, 2009. http://www.ign.com/boards/threads/i-always-considered-piccolo-to-be-black.454292410/ (accessed 12 8, 2015). Kazenshuu Forum. Kazenshuu Forum. 6 6, 2011. http://www.kanzenshuu.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=17703 (accessed 12 8, 2015). Within the the popular anime series Dragon Ball Z, a show I watched when I was in middle school and didn’t think too much about since then, one of the main characters and heroes is a green alien named Piccolo. In a show that takes place on Earth, he is not the only alien by far. In fact, most of the the heroes come from other planets, as do most of the antagonists. Most, not all, of the heroes are white and could be mistaken as humans except for Piccolo. Taking note of Piccolos otherness there is a recurring discussion within the fandom questioning why there is the perception that Piccolo is the token black character. This image shows of the main characters and protagonists in Dragon Ball Z. We see a majority of characters with white skin, there is the shorter character with what looks like clown make-up and then there is Piccolo in the background standing about a foot taller than the others with green skin and wearing a turban. Just looking at the image without any knowledge of the show, his appearance makes it clear that he is not a human, where other characters might be able to pass despite only four of them actually being human within the context of the show. Technically the character with one eye and the short character with white skin and red cheeks, the man with the short black hair in the back, and the bald man with the dots on his forehead are the only full blooded humans in the image. Except for the character on the far left, most of the characters are wearing similar outfits geared towards martial arts. Loose fitting pants and tops, with a clothe belt around the waste and boots on their feet. They are color coordinated to indicate different forms for training and martial arts practices. Piccolo is the only seen with a large cape, large embellishments over his shoulders and a turban. His clothing might set him apart, but his height and skin color really signifies his difference. But just because he is different than the white skinned characters why would we consider him to be black? What is it within our own culture that causes us to race a character as black even if he is green and comes from the planet Namek? Race is a social construction and the fact that we would try and label a fictional character with a label that we are already familiar with is proof of that. We view our world through a racial lens and that affects how we interpret anything presented to us. Many of these fan theories note Piccolo’s blackness because of he has a much lower voice, and ascribe that trait to blackness. Piccolo insists upon being taken very seriously and does not joke around like many of the other characters. Although that might just be his personality, some might interpret this as a fact that he does not allow himself to be goofy, being the other he is more concerned about how his image is perceived and does not feel accepted within the group. These are all speculations and interpretations, but what I am interested in is what leads up to make these and why? The image above shows the kinds of comparisons that we of make. Piccolo is wearing a backwards baseball hat, has a yellow tank-top with purple trim. It is juxtaposed with an image of Will Smith as from the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air with a sideways cap, a yellow tank-top and a purple undershirt. We can’t ignore the fact that they do look very similar. We know neither image was created in reference to the other. Dragon Ball Z is a Japanese cartoon created in the 1980’s and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is an American sitcom created a decade later any comparisons we can make are purely coincidental. The fact that someone on the internet made this connection and took the effort to put in visual form to be shared is anything but coincidental. As we move throughout the world we make associations with what we experience, comparing one thing to another, finding similarities and categorizing them in order to understand them. That is what we do with race. Absolutely those categorizations fall short of the the truth, and are exploited and abused. They are often as ludicrous as comparing the green skinned alien in a Japanese anime to the struggles of black people in America. The problem is when we categorize whole groups of people and nationalities, we can’t help but view them as categories and not the individuals that they are.